Air cup



July 25, 1967 M. w. LOVELAND AIR CUP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 22, 1965 INVENTOR. MALCOLM m [ammo BY 1= IE- z a ATTORNEYS July 25, 1967 w, LOVELAND 3,332,559

AIR CUP Filed July 22, 1965 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 14 fir INVENTOR. I 5 MALCOLM W. LOVELAND ATTOKNE V5 United States Patent fornia Filed July 22, 1965, Ser. No. 474,114 Claims. (Cl. 214-4) This invention relates to a pear centering and feeding device and, more particularly, relates to a pneumatically operated cup for gripping, centering and feeding a pear onto a spindle.

Pear peeling, coring and cutting machines are well known in the art as is typified by US. Patents 2,901,014, 3,018,179, 3,055,408 and 3,058,502. In each of these patents, a pear is received in some form of vertical cup with its stem end down whereupon a plurality of moving fingers grip the pear centering holding it and the cup is then tilted to a horizontal position and moved toward some form of impaling device whereupon the pear is impaled and the fingers release the pear. One or more operations are then performed on the thus impaled pear, such as peeling, coring, stem and/ or calyx end trimming, cell removing, halving, and the like.

In the machines shown in the above patents, the pear retaining cup is mounted on some form of carriage which moves towards the impaling device after the cup has been loaded. The pear centering fingers of these cups were latched open against the bias of springs. The forward motion of the carriage moved the cup along a cam which tilted the cup from vertical to horizontal for impaling. The accuracy of the horizontal position was greatly dependent on the freedom of wear and play between the fixed and moving parts. Obviously, the accuracy of impaling was dependent on the accuracy of the horizontal position. The initial-few degrees of tip over of the cup unlatched the fingers and permitted them to snap closed on the pear or the stops on the cup. After the pear was partially impaled the fingers had to be opened to allow the pear to remain impaled instead of being withdrawn. This was accomplished by a roll on the upper centering finger engaging a stationary cam surface with considerable shock which was further detrimental to the wear life of the moving parts. In addition to these shock and wearing actions, the pear was not gripped by the fingers during the initial tipping over of the cup. This permitted the pear to be thrown around by its own inertia so that it frequently was not properly seated in the stem and centering cone when impaling began.

In accordance with the present invention, the above deficiencies are corrected by providing a pear feeding and orienting cup wherein the fingers are actuated by a It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup wherein the horizontal position of the fingers is controlled wholly within the cup unit itself without reference to other machine parts.

Another object of this invention is to produce a cup wherein the force required to close the cup is not taken from the inward motion of the cup with the consequent shock loads and wear on moving parts, but instead the power to close the cup comes from a fluid actuated cylinder and wherein springs are provided to open the cup.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cup wherein the fingers are closed on the pear before the cup begins to tilt in the horizontal position, thus avoiding the possibility of the pear bouncing around and not being properly centered within the fingers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cup wherein there are at least two sets of fingers with each set being actuated by a suitable linkage to a single piston so that the fingers are self-centering.

3,332,559 Patented July 25, 1967 Another object of this invention is to provide a cup with a quick change neck centering cone so that the machine can be quickly modified without the use of tools to accommodate pears of various sizes.

A still further object of this invention is to produce a cup wherein the jaws can be individually adjusted to be centered with the axis of the neck centering cone.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cup wherein the horizontal position is determined by the cup unit itself and not by an external cam.

Other objects will be apparent from the balance of the specification as follows.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cup embodying the present invention showing its relationship with the impaling device and associated equipment.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side section through a pear orienting cup embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a cup showing the method of tilting the cup as well as the valve actuating cam.

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line 44 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a partial exploded view showing a snapin, quick change cup.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 3, the overall operation of a typical pear machine will first be described. Since this general operation is well known to those skilled in the art and is set forth in the above mentioned patents, this operation will be described in only a very abbreviated form.

A pear feeding cup, generally designated 6, has pivot frame 7 mounted on slide 8 which, in turn, is mounted on ways 10 of a flat bed casting 12 which, in turn, is mounted on the movable cross bar 14. The cross bar 14 is caused to move toward and away from the structure which actually impales and performs various operations on the pear and which has been generally designated 16. This may include a hollow spindle 18 for impaling the pear, the spindle having pear rotating fins 20 mounted thereon. Concentric with the spindle 18 is the core sleeve 22 having wire knives 24 thereon for removing the seed cell. The machine may also include a calyx end trimming knife 26, a stem trimming knife 28, splitting knives 30, and a rotary peeling knife 32. Pear holding jaws 34 are also ordinarily provided. The pear cup assembly 6 is mounted on the ways 10 in sliding relationship and thus will only move with the cross bar 14 if it is locked in place relative thereto; for this purpose a latching mechanism 36 is provided which is actuated by arm 38 which leads to a sensing mechanism, not shown, which senses the size of the pear and unlocks the cup slide 8 from the flat bed 12 and stops it, depending upon the size of the pears being handled. In other words, with large pears, the cup 6 will move farther on the ways 10 on the impaling stroke than it would move if small pears were fed, so that the pear will be properly positioned on the impaling device depending upon its length. All of the above mechanism is Well known to those skilled in the art.

The cup of the present invention includes slide 8 having trunnions 40 and 42 in which the hollow shaft 44 and the solid shaft 46 are mounted for rotation. The shafts 44 and 46 support the air cup pivot frame 7 in which is mounted a cylinder 50 having a piston 52 therein which is provided with a flexible diaphragm 54. The pivot frame 7 has attached thereto a neck centering cup 56, the attachment means preferably being of the quick disconnect type hereinafter described in detail. The hollow shaft 44 has an air passage tube 58 therein and the outer end of the tube has a coupling 60 to which is attached a flexible tube 62 while the inner end of tube 58 connects through suitable seals with a passage 64 leading into the interior of cylinder 50. Preferably a re- 3 stricted orifice 61 is provided at the cylinder end of tube 58.

The pivot frame 7 has four bosses which are arranged in pairs, namely the rear bosses 66 and corresponding forward bosses 68. A rear yoke 70 is mounted for rotation in the bearings provided in the bosses 66 which terminate in the rear fingers 72. The forward fingers 74 are similarly part of the yoke 76. Each of the yokes has a short downwardly extending arm, namely, arms 78 and 80 to which are bolted the rear cup finger lever 82 and the forward cup finger lever 84, respectively. The position of the fingers with respect to the levers can be adjusted through a limited range by means of the bolts 86 and 88 to achieve precise centering of the fingers. The levers 82 and 84 are provided with rollers 90 and 92 which bear against the outer face of piston 52. The finger members are provided with compression springs 94 and 96 which normally urge the members 72 and 74 outwardly to the position shown in dot-dash lines of FIGURE 2.

The tube 62 leads to a T 98 which is inserted in a line 100 which, in turn is connected by a flexible tube 101 to a valve 102 which has a line 104 connected to a source of adjustably regulated compressed air, not shown. Valve 102 has an actuating arm 106 which is actuated by the pear peeling machine. Preferably, cam 108 is of the overrun type, i.e., after the initial deflection of arm 106, continued turning of the cam does not result in any change in the position of the valve. In the pear machine of Patent 3,055,408, the motion deflecting plate shaft 332 of FIGURE 1 has a suitable motion and timing for actuating the cam. This can be seen from FIGURE 24 of said patent, wherein the first and last curves show the action of the cup and deflecting plate. Valve 102 is set to admit air to the cylinder 50 at about 355 and. shut off and eirhaust theair at about 25 to 30, i.e., just before the pear is fully impaled. When arm 106 is depressed, air is admitted from the line 104 into line 100, while if the arm is released, line 100 is opened to the atmosphere as at 105. Although it is convenient to actuate the device of the present invention by the deflecting plate shaft, it is possible to actuate the valve by means of a separate cam from the main cam of the pear machine.

In operation, a pear is placed, stem end down, in the cup 56 whereupon motion of cam 108 causes air to be supplied to the cylinder 50 which presses outwardly on the rollers 90 and 92, closing the fingers about the pear in the manner shown in solid lines in FIGURE 2. The air is ordinarily admitted just before the cup begins to tip from vertical so that the fingers are closed and the pear is centered before the cup tips. Centering is accomplished because both finger levers have individual rollers 90 and 92 thereon and the tips of the fingers move in opposition to each other. With a pear gripped between the fingers, the only position where both rollers can touch the piston end is with the pear centered. Any force applied to move the pear off center must be great enough to overcome the air pressure and move the piston backwards. This action would result in one roller pushing the piston back and the other roller moving free of the piston and by about double the amount of piston movement. This condition is unstable so there is a strong tendency to move the pear back to center where the condition is stable. By regulating the air pressure with conventional air regulating equipment, centering forces can be applied to overcome all normal gravity and inertia forces acting under the circumstances. As has been pointed out previously, the cup fingers are independently adjustable by means of the adjusting screws 86 and 88 so that the fingers can be made equidistant from the c ups center line.

A pressure of from 30 to 60 p.s.i.g. will handle the desired movement. Part of the air pressure is used to overcome the force of the springs tending to hold the fingers open and the frictional resistance of the moving parts while the balance is used to grasp the pear. The orifice 61 is to slow down the speed of the closure of the fingers to minimize the hammer blow of the fingers, particularly on a small pear. This orifice is placed close to the cylinder so that there is a minimum amount of air which has to flow through the orifice.

By the use of the air-actuated cylinder, the power to close and open the fingers is completely independent of the system which moves the cup and no power is eX- tracted from that system for the purpose of actuating the fingers. Thus, the shock and wear inherent in the prior system are avoided.

Although the cup is shown as having two double-ended fingers actuated by two rollers in contact with the face of the pistion, it is also possible to employ three single fingers, each with an independent roller acting against the face of the piston. It is obvious that with the three-finger system, good contact on an irregular surface such as provided by a pear is easily achieved.

As pointed out previously, one of the features of the present invention is a quick-change neck-centering cone. Fruit varies in actual length from abouttwo inches to as much as five or six inches, and it is obviously desirable to provide a cone for the reception of the stem end of the pear of a suitable size. The quick-change feature is shown in FIGURE 5. Referring now to FIGURE 5, the cone 56 has a pair of ears 112 extending from each side thereof, each of which has a hole 114 with a slot 116 leading thereto. The upper surface of the hole 114 is countersunk as at 118. Mounted on the pivot frame 7 are two cones 120, each of which is mounted so that it can slide up and down a stud-122. A snap ring 124 is provided on the top of the stud retaining spring 126, which fits between the collar and cone, forcing the cone downwardly. As can be seen, if one now places the cup on the pivot and turns it in a clockwise direction, the cones will engage in the holes 114 and retain the cup firmly in position. If one wishes to remove the cup, it is only necessary to give it a firm turn counterclockwise, whereupon the cup can be removed and replaced with one of a different size.

In order to actuate the cup on its tilt-over axis, shaft 46 is provided with an arm to which is attached a cam follower roller 132, which is in contact with the hook cam 134. A clock spring 136 mounted between the hollow shaft 44 and the pivotframe 7 tends to turn the cup to its horizontal position. The rate of tipover of the cup is limited by the engagement of the roller 132 on the end of the crank arm 130 against the J-shaped hook cam 134; crank arm 130 is fixed to shaft 46. Once the horizontal position is reached, that position is held by the spring 136 urging a projecting car 137 on pivot frame 7 against adjustable stop 138. In the horizontal position, the cam roller 132 is not in contact with the long flat horizontal portion of the hook cam 134, but is given a clearance of about A The long horizontal portion of the hook cam is for safety only, in case the spring fails. Thus the horizontal position is' not determined by the cam but is determined within the cup unit itself.

In describing the invention, only a single cup has been shown mounted on the rail 14, but it will be understood, of course, that ordinarily a plurality of such cups would be mounted in side-by-side relationship, the number corresponding to the number of spindles on the particular pear machine.

Although actuation by air has been described, other fluids can be employed such as water, oil or other by draulic fluids.

It is obvious that many modifications of the exact structure shown can be made without departing from the spirit of'this invention.

I claim:

1. A pear centering and feeding device comprising in combination:

(a) a frame having a cone thereon for receiving the stem end of a pear; (b) a plurality of fingers extending from said frame whereby said fingers can be moved inwardly to grasp a pear in said cone;

(0) a pair of arms each separately connected to a finger and individually movable;

(d) springs normally biasing the fingers outwardly;

and

(e) fiuid means whereby said fingers are moved inwardly to center the bulb of a pear supported in the cone including a piston acting on individual arms connected to the fingers whereby the fingers are selfcentering.

2. A pear centering and feeding device comprising in combination:

(a) a frame having a cone thereon for receiving the stem end of a pear;

(b) two pairs of fingers extending from said frame whereby said fingers can be moved inwardly to grasp a pear in said cone;

(c) a lever arm connected with each pair of fingers and individually movable;

(d) springs normally biasing the fingers outwardly;

(e) and a fluid actuated piston for operating said lever arms whereby said fingers are moved inwardly to center the bulb of a pear supported in the cone.

3. A pear centering and feeding device comprising in combination:

(a) a frame having a cone thereon for receiving the stem end of a pear;

(b) a pair of opposite yokes mounted on said frame each having a pair of fingers thereon, the yokes being movable to bring the fingers in to grasp a pear in the case;

(c) springs biasing the fingers outwardly;

(d) a lever arm on each yoke;

(e) a fluid actuated piston for moving each lever independently of the other whereby the fingers are selfcentering;

(f) and adjustment means between each yoke andeach arm.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein a pair of springbiased conical members are mounted on the frame and the cone has a pair of outwardly extending ears, each of said ears having a hole therethrough extending to a slot, each of said holes having the upper surface countersunk to fit the contour of said conical members.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the frame is mounted on a support for movement from a vertical pear receiving position to a horizontal pear feeding position with a spring mounted between frame and said support to normally bias the pivot member to a horizontal position, and a stop on said support establishing the horizontal position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,699,191 1/1955 De Back et a1 14652 X 2,958,353 11/1960 Ogelvie 146-52 3,018,179 1/1962 Coons et a1 14652 X 3,199,558 8/1965 Anderson et a1. 19833 X GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, G. F. ABRAHAM,

Examiners. 

1. A PEAR CENTERING AND FEEDING DEVICE COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A) A FRAME HAVING A CONE THEREON FOR RECEIVING THE STEM END OF A PEAR; (B) A PLURALITY OF FINGERS EXTENDING FROM SAID FRAME WHEREBY SAID FINGERS CAN BE MOVED INWARDLY TO GRASP A PEAR IN SAID CONE; (C) A PAIR OF ARMS EACH SEPARATELY CONNECTED TO A FINGER AND INDIVIDUALLY MOVABLE; (D) SPRINGS NORMALLY BIASING THE FINGERS OUTWARDLY; AND (E) FLUID MEANS WHEREBY SAID FINGERS ARE MOVED INWARDLY TO CENTER THE BULB OF A PEAR SUPPORTED IN THE CONE INCLUDING A PISTON ACTING ON INDIVIDUAL ARMS CONNECTED TO THE FINGERS WHEREBY THE FINGERS ARE SELFCENTERING. 